At Baylor, 'Big Griff' guards Heisman hopeful RG3

Baylor's biggest player on the field has the initials RG and is referred to by teammates as "Big Griff."

WACO, Texas — Baylor's biggest player on the field has the initials RG and is referred to by teammates as "Big Griff."

Yes, his name is Robert Griffin. But he isn't the Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback for the 19th-ranked Bears. This is the 6-foot-6, 330-pound right guard blocking for the quarterback with the same name.

"We never call him the other Robert Griffin," said Robert Griffin III, the 6-2, 220-pound quarterback who isn't related to the big lineman. "No one calls me 'Little Griff', but we call him 'Big Griff.' He outweighs me by a lot, but by no means am I little."

There is never any confusion on the field over which Griffin is which.

RG3 is the big-play, dual-threat quarterback who has 4,290 total yards and 41 touchdowns (34 passing, seven rushing) this season for the Bears (8-3, 5-3 Big 12).

Robert T. Griffin, nicknamed "RG2" by coach Art Briles, is the big man blocking up front.

"He stays pretty, I get dirty. It's my job," said Griffin the lineman. "I was born with that name. He was born with that name, and we're just two athletes that came to Baylor and we love it. ... I love him just like a brother. He has my name, he's No. 10, I'm No. 79. I'm going to block for him, I'm going to do what I have to do to protect that man and keep him off the grass."

The team with two Robert Griffins already has won the most games at Baylor in 20 years. The Bears went 4-0 in November after winning only four Big 12 games combined the previous 15 Novembers.

Baylor plays its regular-season finale Saturday at home against Texas (7-4, 4-4). Then the Bears will play in their second consecutive bowl game following a 15-season postseason drought.

Even while playing one of the nation's toughest schedules, the Bears still have a chance for their only 10-win season other than 1980, which was Mike Singletary's senior season.

Griffin the offensive lineman will be playing his final Baylor home game Saturday. He has been a starter both seasons since transferring from Navarro College after playing on a state championship team for Texas high school power Euless Trinity.

Before joining the Bears, the lineman was known just as Robert Griffin. The initial from his middle name, Torrez, was added at Baylor to distinguish him on rosters and in publications from the quarterback.

"He's a big guy and he's an emotional player. He plays with a lot of emotion and that's the one thing you have to love about him," the quarterback said of the lineman. "Every time he lines up, he's going to give you his all."

Griffin, the fourth-year junior quarterback, didn't get to play in the second half of last weekend's 66-42 win over Texas Tech because of concussion-like symptoms after taking a hard hit to the helmet just before halftime. He threw for 106 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 62 yards and two scores against the Red Raiders, a week after a school-record 551 total yards in a win over Oklahoma.

But Griffin, one of four players in major college history with at least 9,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing in his career, is expected to play against the Big 12's best defense. The game against the Longhorns will be the last chance for RG3 to impress Heisman Trophy voters before that award is presented the following weekend.

"Everybody knows who's the Heisman," said Griffin the lineman. "He's big Griff too. He does big things too, just like me."